frank

Looks OK to me. It has the sort of marbling seen in early cent planchets. VF, I think. Not a bad price.

In Panama! That's a real mystery. The only French in Panama that I'm aware of was Ferdinand de Lesseps's crew and its ill-fated plans for the canal in the 1880s.

Wow. I've seen lots of things done to these 20 centime pieces of Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, but this I've never seen before. Try posting this in Exonumia. Maybe someone there has seen something like it. I really like it!

It's a French jeton from the second half of the 16th century. Really nice and not often seen. Here's a link showing it unsold at auction at an asking price of 100 euros: http://www.inumis.com/us/vso//charles-cardinal-de-bourbon-futur-charles-x-roi-de-la-ligue-sd-a19997.html Charles X Cardinal de Bourbon was head of la Ligue, a conservative Catholic group that opposed making any deals with Protestants to continue the royal succession. Imprisoned, he eventually endorsed his nephew, the future Henri IV of Navarre --a Protestant who converted to Catholicism on taking the crown in 1590.

Looks like your basic "jeton à la nef," i.e. with a ship on the front (you've got it upside down) and a diamond design on the back. Usually made XV-XVIe in Northern France / Belgium / Netherlands with fictitious legends. Here's a possibility: Actually this jeton seems to have real legends; I think the obverse is VOLGUE LA GALERE DE FRANCE perhaps. A reference to the ship on the seal of the city of Paris, with the motto FLUCTUAT NEC MERGITUR "It is tossed by the waves but does not sink."

Ebay has its shortcomings. In some areas the variety of coins available has diminished considerably over the past 5-8 years. Still, it's a useful source for price comparison. If you live not too far from a coin shop, that's a best starting point. Otherwise, there are lots of online dealers. Maybe some other Coin Peep can suggest some?

I really love the toning on the later jeton, Ian. Both are beautiful. BTW, who is the martyr (palm branch) standing next to the Bishop?

Really beautiful.

Awesome, Pat. I'm jealous.

Ditto. I had your post (with the big photo of the medal) on my screen yesterday and was about to write how much I liked it when a student came into my office. He may have wondered just what sort of stuff I was looking at online...

Looks like I found a very similar coin on a French metal detectors site: a French patard from Pope Clement VIII (1592-1605). Here's the link: http://www.la-detection.com/dp/message-44096.htm Here's the text of the message (scroll down): c'est bien un patard de Clement VIII 1592 et 1605 A/CLEMENT VIII.PONT.MA 2 clefs en sautoir (2 keys crossed) R/S PETRVS.ET.PAVLVS.CAR croix dans 4 demi cercle (a cross in 4 half-circles) PA 4367

1920 wheatie! It's been years since I found a wheatie in circulation, much less such an early one. (Of course, the one you found wasn't in circulation, was it?)

Excellent. Always a thrill when it seems you might have something rare and unusual. As for Dr. Bourru, you probably know that his name means "uncivilized" or "ornery" in French...

Cool token, Constanius. Does it smell of tobacco?

15th-c. bronze French ship jetton (jeton à la nef):

Last is a bronze jetton of Lazarus Gottleib Lauffer of Nuremberg. Rechenpfennig = counter/jetton

Reproduction of an Aztec calendar, found on many medals and some modern coins (e.g., 10 pesos).

Love it! I don't remember having seen this particular version of a Dauphin jeton by Lauffer.

Beautiful piece, Ian. I love the three "P's" for Peronne.

Interesting. What a rewarding field of exonumia you have chosen --since few people know the rarities of what they have, you get (sometimes!) to snap them up à bas prix. Lovely.

Jeepers Constanius... remind us of the estimated mintages of RRRR tokens?

Ian --your jetons are amazing. This one is a bit more scruffy, but it shows the old Hotel de Ville, which was replaced in the 18th century. 1685 IAC.CHARLOT.ESCer.Sr.DES.LOGES.MAIRE ses armes; à l’exergue 1685 / CVLTV.SIC.HOSPITE.CLARA “illustre pour son élégance comme pour son hôte” vue de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Angers [à partir de Jacques Charlot, le maire fut obligé d’habiter l’Hôtel de Ville] cuivre, G 1440 F 8463 C 1189